Rolling mill



June 16, 1925.

A. v. RIGBY ROLLING MILL Filed Aug. 2, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l awlio'c I@LQ 'gyg/ n Mouw/go www e: nad-wht* A. v. vRUGBY June' 16,- 1925.

ROLLING MILL Filed Aug. 2, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 e. und-*asap* PatentedJune 16, 1925. f

unirse PATENT omas.;

ALBERT' VEB-NON RIGBY, 0F SHARN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO` T HOS. H.

annisfrncrva.or rannnnn, PENNSYLVANIA, l

ROLLING MILL.

Application; med August 2, 1923,. Serial No. Smara,

Toall t may. conca/mf Be it known that I., Awans VERNON Eiern a citizenet ,the United.: States. residingv at Sharon. i11- the County 0fMel-"Cer and State of Pennsylvania, have invented Cer-- tain new anduseful lmprcvements in# R0llusMilLs; endl do:l declare the following; tobe av full, clear, and; enact4 description of-i the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art tc which it arreltaus to make andusefthesame Y My invention relates to= improvementsrv in rolling millsand more particularly to those of thel continuous type; iii-which aplurality: enrolling' units each consisting of upper and lower rolls.,are spaced apart longitudinally of the machine. In adjusting machines ofthis` character`r for diiferent thicknesses of work and t0. compensate`for temperature changes; caused yby contact ofl therolls with thefhtmetal, it is rather. difficult to prop.- erlyadjust the: several 'unitsso .that their rolls-.will have the correct draft, and fur thermore,this;` adjusting operation consumes a, great; deal of time.. It isVtherefore the obT ject of'my inventionyto provide an improvedassociation of parts whereby the .rolls ofv all unitsefithemillmaybesimul'taneously adjusted, not only;l saving a ,great deal of time,but'y insuring; that` the relativey adjustments of nthe several:unit-s', shall be absolutely correct.

In, carrying out the above end,xa further aim is. to. provide, a: novelarrangement of adjustingy screws for forcing the; upper rollsdownwardlyy and taking! the lupward thrust thereof* when operating?,andr to. provide duid pressure means fonquickly raisingv the rolls toany extent permitted bythe screws. Withy the foregoingv in` view,theiinvention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter-sd"cri'bed and'cliaimed, the description being supplemented by theaccompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a rolling mill embodying my improvements.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation artly broken away and invertical section.

In the drawings above briefly described, the numeral 1 designates `aconventional form of continuous rolling mill, said mill including aplurality of rolling units U. In the type of mill shown, each unitcomprises upper and lower rolls 2 and 3, vertically semble bearings iifor the Pref ,fell .2 e

pair of parallel vertical guides .5 at each side of the machine forguiding theI bearings l at such side, and a head 6 at each side of the,machine connecting the upper ends of. said guides 5. Y

Eachhead Gis formed with a pair of vertical cylindrical recesses'7closed at their up ler ends by removable plates, 8 and proyi Ved withstuiiing boxes 9 at their lower ends. Vithin the recesses 7, arepistons10 from which piston rods 11 extend downwardly, the lower endsr of theserods being ,Secured at l2 t0 the lovver halves- 13 of the bearings f1,ywhile the upper halves 121 of said bearings are not. secured to therods, but, merely have openings 15 through which said rods pass. Afluid-pressure pipe 16 extends along the heads 6, one of these pipesbeing located at each side of the machine, and; is provided withbranches 17,' discharging into the 'recesses or cylinders, 7, below lthepi"tons'10.- It thus follows that when fluid pressure is admitted to thepipes 16, it will raise the pistons 10, consequently raising the rolls2. For lowering the rolls and receiving the upward thr'ust thereof whenin operation, the mechanical means described below, is used.

Vertical screws 18 are threaded through the central portions of theheads 6, and have their lower" ends disposed in Contact with thrustbearinvs 19 carried by the upper halves Mfof the bearings 4, the upperends ofsaid screwsbeing provided with beveled Igears 20 which may besplined thereon. These gears at opposite sides of the machine, areyconnected operatively by transverse shafts 21 and bevel gears 22 on theends thereof', said bevel gears 22 being in mesh with the gears 20 asshown. Appro priate bearing brackets 23 are provided for the shafts 21'and these brackets may well have bearings 24 for the hubs of the gears20. A longitudinal shaft 25 extends above the heads 6 at one side of themachine and is rotatable in appropriate bearings 25 rising from saidheads7 said shaft having bevel gears 26 meshing with the subjacent gears20. By rotating the shaft 25 through the instrumentality of any desiredmeans, it will be seen that rotary motion will be simultaneouslyimparted to all of the screws 18 to effect any desired downwardadjustments of the rolls 2, it being understood that suitable provisionis made for permitting the cylinders 7 to bleed as the pistons 10 traveldownwardly. The weight of the feed rolls however, is at all timescarried by the pistons 10 and rods l1 and by admitting the proper amountof fluid pressure below the pistons, the rolls may be raised when thescrews are rotated to permit such raising.

By providing the construction shown and described or a substantialequivalent thereof, a simple and compact mechanism is provided foradjusting the upper rolls.

As excellent results are obtainable from the general association ofparts disclosed, this association is preferably followedJ but within thescope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes may be made.

I claim:

l. A rolling mill comprising` a plurality of transverse verticallymovable rolls, bearings for the ends of said rolls, vertical guides inwhich said bearings are slidably received, said guides having heads eachformed with a pair of horizontally spaced vertical bores disposed atopposite sides of the adjacent roll axis, said bores being closed attheir upper ends and having stuifing boxes at their lower ends, pairs ofvertical piston rods connected with the aforesaid bearings and passingthrough said stung boxes, said rods having pistons within said bores andthe latter having :duid pressure inlets under said pistons, verticallydisposed hold-down screws for the aforesaid bearings, said screwspassing through the heads of said guides between the piston rods, andmeans for simultaneously driving the holddown screws at opposite sidesof the mill.

2. A rolling mill comprising a roll, bearings supporting the ends ofsaid roll, vertical guides in which said bearings are mounted forvertical sliding, said guides having heads at their upper ends, eachformed with a pair of horizontally spaced vertical bores disposed atopposite sides of the roll axis, said bores being closed at their upperends and having stufling boxes at their lower ends, pistons in saidbores having piston rods passing through said stuffing boxes andconnected with said bearings, iiuid pressure inlets into said recessesbelow said pistons, and hold-down screws passing through said headsbetween the piston rodsJ the lower ends of said screws engaging' saidbearings.

3. A rolling mill comprising a roll, bearings supporting the ends ofsaid roll, and divided horizontally into upper and lower sections,vertical guides in which said bearings are mounted for vertical sliding,a pair of horizontally spaced vertically disposed fluid pressurecylinders at the upper end of each guide and disposed at opposite sidesof the adjacent roll axis, pistons in said cylinders having downwardlyextending piston rods, means securing the lower'ends of said rods to thelower sections of said bearings, the latter having their upper sectionsfree of attachment to said rods, permitting them to be moved upwardlyfrom the lower bearing sections when changing rolls, vertically movablemechanical means engaging said upper sections of said bearings fornormally holding these sections lowered toward the lower bearingsections and for depressing the bearings and roll, and means foradmitting fluid pressure into the cylinders below the pistons to raisethe bearings and ro 4. A rolling mill comprising a roll, bearingssupporting the ends of said roll and divided horizontally intoy upperand lower sections, said upper and lower sections havmg verticallyalined openings at opposite sides of the roll axis, a pair of uprightpiston rods at each end of the roll, said rods passing slidably throughthe openings of the upper bearing sections and being secured in theopenings of the lower bearing sections, fluid pressure cylinders andpistons associated with the upper ends of said rods for raising them,and holddown means engaging the upper sections of the bearings tonormally hold them in operative relation with the lower sections of saidbearings and to depress the bearings and roll, said hold-down meansbeing vertically movable and when raised permitting upward sliding ofthe upper bea-ring sections away from the roll and the lower bearingsections.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

ALBERT VERNON RIGBY.

